TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, the operator of the TNG eWallet, is working towards a listing on Bursa Malaysia, a move that may make it the first fintech unicorn to debut on the bourse.

In an interview with The Edge, CEO Alan Ni declines to commit to a time frame for the listing, saying it will take its natural course once the company’s growth story, market conditions and investor appetite align.

“There are definitely internal discussions [for a potential listing on Bursa]. There are also investment bankers approaching us to pitch for our IPO (initial public offering) business. But to be very honest with you, we don’t have a set timeline. We’re looking at many things — how our business grows, market sentiment, capital market acceptance and so on. It will happen, it’s going to naturally happen,” says Ni.

The case for a TNG Digital listing is strengthening now that the company has turned profitable. In the latest financial year ended Dec 31, 2025 (FY2025), it registered a profit after tax (PAT) of RM103.23 million — its first annual profit since it began operations in March 2018 — compared with an after-tax loss of RM42.48 million in the previous year. This was on the back of a 71.7% increase in revenue to RM707.28 million from RM411.92 million.

Companies seeking to list on Bursa’s Main Market must either demonstrate an uninterrupted profit of at least three years, or have a total market capitalisation of at least RM500 million upon listing. TNG Digital’s listing is expected to be through the market cap route.

“We definitely can meet the market cap threshold,” Ni asserts.

While some may have debated whether TNG Digital qualifies as a unicorn — a term used to describe a privately-held start-up valued at more than US$1 billion (around RM4 billion) — there should be no doubt now that the company is profitable, he says.

“Before a company becomes profitable, it is difficult to measure whether it is truly a unicorn or not. But since last year, TNG Digital has turned profitable. Our profit [before tax] was more than RM80 million (FY2025: RM81.64 million). So, if you apply a standard price-earnings ratio (PER) for a fintech company, you roughly gauge how much TNG Digital would be worth. Normally, the PER is much higher for companies growing very fast.

“For the past four years, TNG Digital has been growing revenue [at a compound annual growth rate] of 70%. From a profit perspective alone, we made over RM80 million last year, and this year it will probably more than double. Whichever valuation methodology you apply, there’s a good chance we are already worth more than a unicorn valuation,” says Ni.

A US$1 billion valuation is roughly equivalent to RM4 billion today, and applying prevailing PE multiples to earnings gives a rough indication of the profit needed to attain unicorn status, he notes, pointing to recent sizeable Malaysian IPOs such as Sunway Healthcare Holdings Bhd (KL:SUNMED), 99 Speed Mart Retail Holdings Bhd (KL:99SMART) and Mr DIY Group (M) Bhd (KL:MRDIY), which are trading at between 40 and 80 times PER.

“So, the reality is, you just need RM100 million in earnings and a 40 to 50 times PER, and you are already looking at a valuation of RM4 billion to RM5 billion. And I think by 2026, we are much more confident we will be [well] above that RM100 million earnings threshold,” says Ni.

A simple calculation shows that based on TNG Digital’s RM103.23 million net profit last year, the implied PER needed for a RM4 billion valuation would be roughly 39 times.

The term “unicorn” was used on TNG Digital as early as August 2025 by the CEO of CIMB Malaysia, Gurdip Singh Sidhu, who also oversees the group’s digital businesses. “We are very confident that TNG Digital is already qualified as a unicorn,” he was reported as saying at the time, without indicating the company’s valuation.

Technology platform company Grab Holdings Ltd’s listing valuation was not based on earnings multiples, but instead on revenue and growth projections, given that Grab was still loss-making at the time of its Nasdaq debut in December 2021.

Founded in Malaysia and headquartered in Singapore, Grab was valued at around US$40 billion in its special-purpose-acquisition-company (SPAC) merger with Altimeter Growth Corp prior to the Nasdaq listing, which set the reference for its market debut. Grab reported its first full-year profit of US$200 million last year.

TNG Digital has seen tremendous growth in its revenue in recent years, from just RM26.66 million in FY2020 — the year the Covid-19 pandemic hit — to RM53.55 million in FY2021, RM144.42 million in FY2022, RM234.44 million in FY2023, RM411.92 million in FY2024 and RM707.28 million in FY2025.

The company has yet to see any impact on its business from the Middle East conflict. “Not yet. My guess is, it may not be so fast. There’s always a lag,” Ni says, noting that government subsidies, particularly the Budi95 programme that fixes the RON95 petrol price at RM1.99 a litre for eligible Malaysians, have helped buffer consumers from the impact.

However, if the conflict is prolonged, it will eventually show up in lower transaction volumes on TNG eWallet as consumers potentially cut back on optional spending such as travel, he acknowledges. “But I am comforted by the fact that payments account for only 50% of our business — and it broke even last year — and cash-to-cashless adoption continues to support growth. So, I’m not too worried at this point,” he says.

CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (KL:CIMB), the country’s second-largest banking group by assets, is TNG Digital’s biggest shareholder with a 45.01% stake, held through the bank’s wholly-owned unit, Touch ’n Go Sdn Bhd.

Its other shareholders are Ant International Technologies (HK) Holding Ltd (34.62%), Lazadapay Holdings Pte Ltd (11.38%), ASP Malaysia LP (5.99%) and insurer AIA Bhd (3%).

TNG Digital operates in a highly competitive landscape, with over 30 e-wallets operating in the country. Its suite of payments, financial services and lifestyle offerings faces intense competition.

Yet, with 26 million verified users — far more than any competitor — the company believes its scale, breadth of services and user engagement give it an edge. Ni also points to three core pillars it sees as critical to retaining users: convenience, value and security.

On the security front, the company has made it a point to ensure all users of TNG eWallet are fully verified through electronic know-your-customer (eKYC), even though this is not mandatory for e-wallets. It also voluntarily implemented all five of Bank Negara Malaysia’s key anti-fraud security measures for banks ahead of regulatory deadlines, according to Ni.

As it moves forward to a potential listing, one of Ni’s challenges is to correct some misperceptions about TNG Digital.

“I think there are a lot of misunderstandings about what TNG Digital is. We run a quarterly survey, asking people what comes to mind when they see the name TNG Digital or TNG eWallet. The top answer is payments, which is not wrong, because it’s still 50% of our business. The second is tolls and parking — which is a little off the mark, because their contribution to our revenue is in a low single digit. Third is that we are a monopoly, which is totally wrong, because there are over 30 e-wallets in Malaysia, including some big ones too like MAE, Setel, GrabPay, ShopeePay and Boost. It’s a very competitive market,” he says.

This crowded and fast-moving environment will ultimately shape how the market views any future listing prospects.